A/N: Chapter unbeta'd. If you have any experience editing, I am looking for a beta. Send me a PM if you're interested. Must have knowledge of both HP and PJO fandoms.

Harry clutched his hand tightly to his chest, trying in vain to keep the blood from running down his arm. Percy had said that Professor Umbridge had made him use a weird quill for his detention. The quill did not use ink, but Percy had said nothing had happened and it had pissed Umbridge off. Harry had hoped, when he got detention from Umbridge, that the weird quill would do nothing to him as well. But, it turned out, it had done nothing to Percy because Percy had godly blood in his veins. That was the only explanation Harry could think of. The quill had used Harry's own blood and in the process, had carved 'I must not tell lies' on the back of his hand. And so, for two weeks in a row, Harry had been subjected to what he could only describe as abuse and torture at the hands of an unqualified and bigotted monster in the form of a professor.

"Harry," Hermione whispered sharply as he stepped through the entrance into the Gryffindor common room. The portrait of the Fat Lady swung shut behind him, though Harry could still hear the portrait's hissing anger at seeing the blood on Harry's arm. Hermione and Ron rushed from where they had been sitting by the fire and approached Harry. Hermione held out a bowl of clear, gooey slime to which Harry gratefully submerged his wounded hand into.

"That looks really bad, mate," Ron said, his face paler than usual. "You really should go see Madam Pomfrey."

Harry tried to glare at Ron but the pain was too much. Instead he just shook his head. "No. I'm not going to her."

"Harry," Hermione said softly, guiding him to the couches. "You don't have to do this on your own."

"This is my fight," Harry said bitterly. "She's out to get me and Percy, and she's going to do everything she can to keep us isolated and unhappy. I can't get help from the professors. That's what she wants."

"I heard a rumor that she's going to try and get rid of the Quidditch teams," Ron said. He looked like he was going to be sick.

"You can't be serious?" Harry hissed angrily. Hermione smacked his shoulder.

"Honestly, your hand is bleeding, you're being tortured every night, and the first thing you're worried about is Quidditch?"

Harry shrugged, though he looked a bit sheepish. "It's the only fun thing to do around here. I don't know what I would do without it."

Hermione pursed her lips. "I'm sure Tracey would love to hear that spending time with her is less important and fun than Quidditch."

"No!" Harry practically yelled. He blushed and glared at a snickering Ron. "No, sorry. I mean besides Tracey."

"Good save, mate," Ron said, still laughing. Harry used his free hand to shove his friend good-naturedly.

"Idiots, the lot of you," Hermione grumbled, but she smiled. The Gryffindor 'Golden Trio' was back together-their friendship renewed despite some rough patches. Since the beginning of the term, Ron had made an effort to try and act a bit more mature. He still struggled at times trusting Daphne or Tracey, but he was quite content in letting Harry be happy with his Slytherin girlfriend. Harry had mentioned to Hermione that he suspected Ron had found a secret girlfriend to knock some sense into him. Hermione had nodded, though she had felt a twinge of jealousy at the thought. The new, mature Ron was far more attractive than the old Ron, and if she hadn't had a crush on the boy before, she certainly did now. She had thought for some time that she was over him. Especially when she had gone to the Yule Ball the previous year with Victor Krum. But that had ended rather quickly as Hermione did not want to be some sort of trophy-girlfriend, hanging on the arm of a celebrity. Krum had wanted her to leave England and return to Bulgaria over the summer, but Hermione's place was here with her friends.

"Hermione?" Harry said, and by the tone of his voice, she realized he had been trying to get her attention. She blushed and shook her head from her musings.

"What?"

Harry and Ron grinned. "You kind of spaced out there. What's going on?"

"Nothing," she said, rolling her eyes. "I'm just glad we're back together. I missed my two friends."

"Oi, I've always been here," Harry countered. "He was the dummy."

Ron smacked Harry's shoulder but grinned. A year ago, or even a few months ago, a comment like that would have resulted in Ron decking Harry. But a lot had changed. Their world had changed.

"Harry," a whisper came from the fireplace. "Harry? You there?"

"Sirius," Harry said, forgetting about his wounded hand. He hurried over to the fire where Sirius' head appeared in the flames. "You're a little early. Weren't you going to call at 10?"

"Was I?" Sirius asked, looking confused for a moment before he shook his head. "Doesn't matter. Are you alone?"

"We're here too," Hermione said, looking over Harry's shoulder. Ron came up from the other side.

Sirius nodded. "Good, good. Listen, Harry, I don't have much time, but how about you tell me about those detentions with Umbridge. What is she making you do?"

"Just some lines," Harry said with a shrug. Sirius must have either noticed the scowls on Ron and Hermione's faces or heard something in Harry's tone because he cocked his head as though he didn't believe him. Regardless, Sirius just nodded again.

"Make sure you try and stay out of trouble," he said. "Things are starting to get back outside of Hogwarts. You do not want to be on the Ministry's bad side."

"Bad how?" Harry asked.

Sirius shook his head. "Not here. Can't risk keeping the floo open any longer. Look, you three still have some drachma left?"

Harry nodded. Percy had given them each a bag full of drachma to be used for IM'ing.

"Okay," Sirius said. "Send me an Iris message at the end of next week. Call me on Saturday. I'll try and explain everything more then. I need to go. The Ministry is beginning to monitor all floo calls. Not sure how exactly, but the rumor is that they have threatened some people within the Department of Mysteries. Stay out of trouble, you three."

"We'll try," Harry said with a nod. Sirius gave a smile before stepping back out of the floo. The fire died down and returned to its original state. Harry sighed and leaned back against the couch where Hermione and Ron were sitting. "I wonder what's going on."

"It must be pretty secret if the Prophet isn't writing about it," Hermione said.

"Or the Prophet has been paid off to not talk about it all," Ron said. Harry nodded. That was far more likely.

"We should get some rest, regardless," Hermione said. "We have DADA tomorrow, and we do not want to fall asleep in class. Remember what happened to Lavender?"

The boys shivered. The poor girl had fallen asleep in the middle of one of Professor Umbridge's long tirades on the importance of Ministry sanctions on half-breed creatures. When she got caught, Professor Umbridge had paraded her to the front of the class and used Lavender as an example of why previous Hogwarts professors had failed. She then gave the young girl detention. When Lavender had returned to the common room that night, she had been deathly pale and quiet. To see the normally vivacious and gossiping girl reduced to such a pitiful state sent a creeping fear through the school. She had since returned a bit more to normal, but whenever Lavender saw Professor Umbridge, her face would turn white and she would clam up.

"Right, don't want extra detentions on top of the lines," Harry said. He pulled himself up to his feet, wincing as he used his right hand to get up. Ron tried to help him, but he waved him off. "No, it's okay. Thanks."

Ron didn't look convinced but let Harry get up on his own. Harry stifled a yawn and began walking to the stairs leading up to the boys' dorms. "'Night Mione."

Hermione said goodnight, standing beside Ron as they watched their best friend head upstairs to bed.

"I'm worried about him," she said softly. Ron nodded.

"He's strong, and Tracey has been doing a lot of good for him," Ron said. "But..."

"But his temper is getting worse," Hermione finished. Ron nodded. "I don't know what's gotten into him."

"I think it's the Toad," Ron said. "You don't see him in the dorms every night. He has so many bloody bandages by his bed even Seamus looks like he's about to throw up."

"Language, Ron."

"I wasn't saying it as a curse, I meant literal bloody bandages. His hand is in really bad shape."

Hermione wrung her hands together, tears threatening to spill over. "That horrible woman. All she talks about is making Hogwarts 'safe' and 'good.' She's torturing us! I don't even want to know what she's doing to the muggleborn students in detention with her."

"I can't imagine it's anything good," Ron said, angrily. "I'd wager it's even worse than the Blood Quill she's using on Harry and Percy."

"Blood Quill?"

Ron nodded. "It's a special type of quill that they really only use at Gringotts. It's illegal for anything but signing contracts and even then I can't really think of a situation that requires a Blood Quill."

"Then we need to take it from her!" Hermione practically shouted. "The Board of Governors won't stand by and let her torture us!"

"And how can you prove that it's the Toad's?" asked Percy stepping into the common room. He rolled over the back of the couch to sit in between his two Gryffindor friends. "You take that quill from her, all she has to say is that we bought one and then framed her. The Ministry is supporting her completely right now. They're after me and Harry, and Dumbledore too. They'll make any excuse to get us in trouble."

"But there's got to be something we can do," Ron said. "I heard the twins are planning some serious pranks for her."

Percy grinned. "Good, that's what she deserves. Tell them not to hold back either." He leaned back in the couch and ran his hands over his face. "This is all my fault, though. I should never have gotten so snarky with her at the beginning of the semester."

"You can't blame yourself for this," Hermione said, placing a hand on his arm. "You aren't making the Toad torture students."

"No," Percy said. "But she's taking her anger out on the rest of the students. She's angry at me and Harry for spreading 'lies' about Voldemort and Hecate. She wants us gone from Hogwarts. To be honest, it probably wouldn't be the worst thing for me to get kicked out."

Hermione hit him hard on the arm, scowling. Percy yelped and rubbed where she hit him. It hadn't hurt, but it certainly was unexpected.

"What the Hades was that for?"

"Don't talk like that, you prat!"

"I'm just saying!" Percy defended. "There's a lot that needs to be done outside of Hogwarts. Hecate is gathering the Death Eaters and who knows what else to take over the world. I can't really help stop that unless I'm not here. If I leave Hogwarts, I can join the hunters in making sure that Hecate doesn't enlist the help of some of the darker creatures here. Harry told me about your Dementors. I don't really want to fight those if I can help it."

"But what about Harry? Or Daphne?" Ron asked. "You'd really leave them behind?"

Percy shook his head. "Not willingly, but they can handle themselves. Look, before I came here, Harry and you two got into all sorts of sticky situations and came out on top. He told me about the Philosopher's Stone in your first year and the basilisk in your second. That's impressive stuff, man. Harry can handle his own, he doesn't need me. And Daphne...Hades, she's a firecracker." Percy smiled fondly, thinking of his girlfriend. "She's a strong fighter and she's got a spirit to her I don't think I've seen in anyone before. Except Ares' kids, but I'm 99% sure she's not one of his."

"You know what Slytherin house will be like for her without you here," Hermione said.

"She will be fine," Percy said. "I've already talked with her about it. Not only does she have that amulet I gave her for protection, she's capable of defending herself. Not to mention there are a growing number of people in her house that are looking to her and Tracey for guidance. That Zabini kid and several of the younger years. Plus, you guys must have noticed that Malitosis isn't his normal self."

"Malfoy," Ron corrected with a grin. Percy grinned back.

"Right, him. He's not snooty or as annoying this year. Daphne and Tracey seem to think that Voldemort is camping out at his family's home. Plus, I heard from some contacts of mine that the Malfoys reached out to them for help. Hecate terrifies them. I'm sure they still believe in their little racist bigotry, but at least they're losing the will to fight alongside Voldemort and Hecate."

Hermione cocked her head. "What contacts?"

"That'd be telling, Mione."

"Oh, whatever," Hermione said, nudging him in annoyance. "It's getting late. We can talk about this another time. Get some rest, you two."

"Night," both boys said. Percy then turned to Ron.

"I saw you heading out to the Pitch last night."

Ron blushed. "I've been practicing a lot lately. Ginny's been helping me."

"You want to play that Quidditch game?" Percy said, smiling.

"Yeah," Ron nodded. "The twins say I'm a decent enough keeper. I'm hoping to make the team this year now that Oliver is gone. Ginny's gonna try out as well. For chaser, I mean. She's bloody good at it."

"Well, best of luck to you," Percy said, standing up. He helped Ron stand up. "Just do your best and I'm sure you'll make the team."

"I appreciate that, Perce," Ron grinned. Percy patted him on the shoulder and both boys headed up the stairs to their dorms.

The next morning, Percy woke up to the sound of Harry hissing in pain. He sat up quickly and looked over at Harry's bed where he was sitting and pressing his palm into his forehead. No one else seemed to be awake, so Percy slipped out of bed and sat down next to Harry. Harry flinched before seeing that it was Percy.

"What's going on with your scar?" Percy asked. Harry shook his head.

"Just a nightmare," he said. "But every time I have a nightmare, my scar starts throbbing."

"What's your nightmare about?" Percy asked, frowning. Harry had complained of nightmares before, but Percy had never really seen his scar acting up like this.

"I keep seeing this blue hallway leading to this weird door," Harry said. He pulled his hand away, wincing in pain. "I don't know what it is, or why I'm dreaming about it."

"You should talk to someone about it," Percy said. "Dumbledore."

"You mean Thanatos?" Harry said bitterly. Percy put a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Look, man. I know it's not easy being lied to like that. Believe me. But he had good reasons to keep that a secret. He's still the Dumbledore that you know, that's not an act, that's just part of who Thanatos is. Like his third aspect along with his Greek and Roman sides. It's his magical side. You should talk with him about your scar. We talked about this at the beginning of the term remember? You seemed more okay with talking to him before."

Harry nodded. "I did back then, but he's been avoiding me. Everytime I see him, he avoids looking at me. And I'm pretty sure he knows that Umbridge is torturing us and he doesn't care."

"I'm sure he cares," Percy said. "But I don't know if there's really anything he can do."

"But he's a god," Harry said. "I'm sure there's a lot he can do."

"Except that the ancient laws forbid him from really doing anything as a god. He can only act in his capacity as headmaster or as leader of the Wizengamot, but right now with the Ministry out to get him and us, I doubt that position really holds any sway."

"You really think I should talk to him about it?"

"Him or Sirius. You still have the drachma I gave you?"

"I do," Harry nodded. "Yeah, talking to Sirius seems like a good plan. I'll tell him about it the next time I see him."

"Great," Percy said, standing up. He sniffed his armpit and winced. "Yikes, I smell horrible. We should hit the showers now. Don't want to be late for class do we?"

"I'd really rather not have 'I must not be late for class' carved on my left hand," Harry said with a morbid chuckle. Percy narrowed his eyes at him before willing water to come out of his ring and splashing all over Harry. The young wizard yelped and jumped out of bed. "You bastard!"

««‡»»

Hecate stared into the abyss before her. The fissure in the earth spanned as far as the eye could see and from its depths poured out green Mist. She basked in its power, drawing energy from the source. Hecate was the goddess of the Mist after all. But something had changed. Its power was not as full as it had been only a year ago. The strength she drew from it less. That worthless, insufferable demigod, Jackson, had done something. Hecate was sure of it. He had found a way to block her connection to the Mist surrounding Hogwarts. But how? Only the most powerful of magic could block a god from their source. She certainly had not given Jackson enough of her blessing for him to be able to perform it. Or perhaps...Hecate thought about it. She had given Jackson enough blessing. She had. She had to, to keep up the illusion that she was on his side. But, she had not given him the knowledge of it. Nor had she given him any sort of inclination that this sort of magic was even possible. How had he done it?

"You called for me?"

Hecate inhaled, the Mist rushing into her lungs. It tasted stale. She turned around and looked into the pits that served as the eyes for the god of death. "Jackson has done something. Something he should never have learned how to do."

"He blocked you from your source of power," Thanatos stated. Hecate sneered at the god, pulling out the Elder Wand. He was still hers to control. Thanatos lifted his hands in surrender. "It was not me that taught him."

"Then who?" Hecate snarled. "There is no way in Tartarus that Jackson could have learned such magic."

"It was not in Tartarus," Thanatos said. "You're right about that. It was in the Underworld. Elysium to be precise."

"Who?"

"I think you know."

Hecate stared at him for a minute before scowling again. "Medea. I should have known. I should have sent her to Tartarus a long time ago."

"Jackson managed to cast a spell to block your connection to the Mist. Temporarily, I thought, but I guess it lasted even longer."

"He should not have had enough magical power to do such a thing," Hecate said. "I gave him enough power to block me for a month at most. Not for this long."

"It took a lot out of him as far as I'm aware," Thanatos said. "According to my sources, his Achilles curse drains him far faster now than it did before. I even heard he passed out after the third task."

"Then we must find a way to overexert him again. If we can force him to drain his energy, we can take him out sooner than expected. With Jackson out of the picture, we can turn our attention to Harry Potter and the magical world. There will be nothing standing in our way." Hecate ran a finger down the length of the Elder Wand, loving the way Thanatos seemed to stiffen with each pass. "Tell me, Thanatos. What is the situation at Hogwarts?"

"The Ministry is cracking down on everything," he said. "They refuse to listen to any information about you or Riddle. Their spy at the school, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, has been torturing students in detention."

Hecate cackled with glee. "Is that so? My, I must find her and thank her!"

"I do not think that she will be happy with you," Thanatos said. "She might hate Potter and Jackson, but her hate for anything non-human far exceeds that of anyone I have ever met. She will hate you regardless of your power simply for being a goddess."

"Interesting," Hecate murmured. "My legacies have forgotten their true heritage. This is the change that must be brought, Thanatos. It must begin with Britain and then to the rest of the world. My legacies will remember where they came from. They will remember that their power comes from me and nowhere else. I will be worshipped as the Olympian that I am."

"As you say," Thanatos said, bowing his head ever so slightly.

"I must find a way to reverse the spell Jackson cast," Hecate said. "In the meantime, stand out of the way of this spy. Let her continue to torture Jackson and Potter."

"She hopes to expel Jackson from the school."

Hecate's eyes gleamed. "Is that so? Let it happen. If we can remove Jackson from the school then even better. Now leave me. I have other urgent matters to attend to."

Thanatos said nothing. He nodded and with a flash, he disappeared from her presence. Hecate turned back to the fissure in the ground. For months she had been weakened by the curse Jackson cast on her. But soon she would be back to her full power and Jackson would be forced down on his knees before her. A thought came to mind. She had a plan. A plan to get rid of Jackson without ever needing to know the location of his secret spot. By the end of the year, Jackson would be gone from this world and would no longer stand in her way to dominance. Hecate flashed out of her throne room and into the dining room of Malfoy Manor. The Death Eaters seated around the table cowered in fear, but she ignored them all. She turned towards the head seat where Voldemort sat, his red eyes watching her carefully.

"Voldemort," she called out. "I must speak with you. I have something you would like to hear."

"What is it?" he asked, stroking the head of the large snake that coiled itself around his waist.

"It is about a connection between you and Harry Potter."

««‡»»

As the year progressed, darkness fell upon the halls of Hogwarts. Harry and his friends had IM'd Sirius and learned the full story of what was going on outside the walls of the school. The Ministry was taking a powerful stand against Dumbledore, Harry, and Percy. Their adamant refusal to believe in the Greek gods or in Voldemort's return was leading to several members of the government being removed and replaced with more 'loyal' people. Sirius explained that Dolores Umbridge was far more cunning and vile than they'd previously thought. If her use of a Blood Quill wasn't bad enough, Umbridge was also well-known for her roles in proposing strict sanctions on muggle-born people and half-breeds. In fact, it was one of Umbridge's trademark legislative propositions that made it impossible for Remus to find a job.

Her class was also becoming unbearable for all the students at Hogwarts. Even the children of darker families that had been amused and pleased with Umbridge's vendetta against muggle-borns and half-bloods were turning on her. Her class only allowed the study of theory and reading of textbooks. For a school on the use of witchcraft and wizardry, it was extremely frustrating. But it was all part of the Ministry's plan, according to Sirius. The Order had been continuing to meet, gathering in secret at Grimmauld Place, to conduct missions but the Ministry was making it increasingly more difficult. Minister Fudge, it seemed, was terrified of Dumbledore raising an army.

"That's insane!" Harry exclaimed, rolling his eyes and huffing. "Why would he want to raise an army?" Tracey reached out and grabbed his arm, running her hand soothingly over him to try and calm him down.

"I know," Sirius said. "Fudge seems to think that Dumbledore is after his job as minister and wants to make sure he can't do anything. He's imposing strict sanctions on the auror department. According to Tonks, any mention of Voldemort or Death Eaters must be dealt with swiftly and with little fuss."

"What does that mean?" Hermione asked.

"It means that anybody that brings that up is to be arrested, I'm guessing," Daphne said. "Why else would Fudge go for the auror department?"

Sirius nodded. "Right in one. Disturbing the peace, they're calling it. I don't know if they are extending it to Hogwarts as well, but I ask you, please kids, stay out of trouble. Umbridge is out to get all of you and everything she says goes back to Fudge. Keep your heads low and avoid her as much as you can."

"I have detention the rest of the week," Harry grumbled. "I have to miss Quidditch tryouts and the first practice."

"What did you do now?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing," Tracey said. "We were studying together in the library and Umbitch came in and told him to leave me alone."

"When I told her that Tracey was my girlfriend, she accused me of lying again and gave me detention," Harry said angrily. Tracey rubbed his back gently.

"Now she's glaring at me all the time too," Tracey said.

"She's glaring at me as well," Daphne said. "I haven't exactly hid my relationship with Percy from her. But I think she's terrified of my family because she hasn't said anything. Perks of being a pureblood, I guess."

Sirius nodded. "She hates half-breeds and half-bloods remember?" He looked around from within the glimmering haze of mist before sighing and standing up. "I need to get going and it's pretty late. You kids get some rest. Call me next week, yeah?"

They all agreed and Percy slashed through the mist, ending the message. They all stood up and made for the door of the abandoned classroom when Harry sat back down and cupped his face in his hands. Tracey motioned for her to handle it, and moved over to sit by her boyfriend. She watched until the last person left the classroom, leaving them alone. She turned and took Harry's hands in hers.

"Harry, what's wrong?" she whispered.

"I can't do this, Trace," he whispered back, shaking his head. "I can't do this. They're not only accusing me of lying, but now they're arresting people for believing in me and Dumbledore? Is that what this is about? Do they want to arrest me too?"

"The Ministry is an ostrich," Tracey said. "When things get remotely scary, it shuts down and throws its head in the sand. My grandpa said that ever since the war with Grindelwald, the Ministry has never been the same. Then Voldemort came after that. Britain has known too much war in a really short period of time. The Ministry is finally at peace, or so they think, and they'll do anything to maintain it."

"I get that," Harry said, rubbing his temples. "I really do. I wish we were at peace too. But by the time they get their head out of the sand, Voldemort will already have won. I just...I can't do this all on my own."

"You're not alone, you idiot," Tracey said, rolling her eyes, and dropping to straddle his lap. She cupped his cheeks and forced him to look up at her.

"I'm not?" he asked, a little bit of stress and anxiety seemingly flushing out of his eyes. Tracey grinned and leaned in to him until her lips were just hovering over his.

"No, you're really not."

Harry managed a small smirk. "Why don't you show me?"

A/N: I am so unbelievably sorry for taking so long, and thank you from the bottom of my heart from everyone that has been waiting patiently (or impatiently) for this update. Here's a quick rundown of why it has taken so long. Last update was in November, since then I got a full time job in November (and I'm even busier now that we're all in self-isolation since I work in online communications), I got engaged in December (and have been busy planning and having meetings with venues and such), and most recently, I just closed on my new house THIS WEEK (been going to open houses and working on setting up mortgage loan since January) and I've been busy painting and setting up new furniture. So this story has not been forgotten but my life has been hella busy.

As for this chapter, it is not nearly as long as I wanted it to be (by about 5k words) but since it's been so long I'm sure we're all just eager to have a new update regardless of length, so thank you again for your patience. You're all amazing and wonderful and I've been loving each and every review you have given me (I don't count flames as reviews. Constructive criticism is always accepted. Flames are not). Thanks again to everyone that has favorited/followed/reviewed. You guys are beautiful.

I hope you all are staying safe and healthy during this challenging time. Until next time! -sweets10 aka the author who takes too long to update